Carrier for articles being heat treated



July 19, 1960 Filed May 7, 1959 P. S. MENOUGH CARRIER FOR ARTICLES BEINGHEAT TREATED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i? J ma l f ao J 7' j INVENTOR,

5. MEA/006% BY M477: f osare/v July 19, 1960 P. s. MENOUGH 2,945,605

CARRIER RoR ARTICLES BRING HEAT TREATED Filed May 7, 1.959 2sheets-sheet 2 j?? 4 INVENTOR.

rraen/fys United States Pattini 0 Mv 2,945,605 CARRIER FoR ARTICLESBEING HEAT TREATED Paul S. Menough, 1 9770 Roslyn Drive,

Rocky River, Ohio Filed May 7, 1959, Ser. No. 811,750

Claims. (Cl. 214-18) This invention relates generally to the heattreating art and is particularly concerned with new apparatus fortransporting small articles through a heat treating furnace.

There are many small, various shaped, light weight articles whichrequire'heat treatment, as by being heated to high temperatures whiletraveling through a furnace, and various types of means have beenproposed for carrying such articles through a furnace. Y Examples ofsuch articles are metal pieces which are being enamel coated. However,no fully satisfactory means for such purpose has been devised prior tothis invention, so far as I am informed.`

The prior carriers for such articles were castings of metal which wasquite resistant to high temperatures, for example, high nickel highchromium alloys and the like. These castings were much heavier ythan wasrequired to alord the necessary small strength due primarily to the factthat the molten metal would not flow through .the passages in sand moldswhich were small enough to make cast section having that small strength.The vmetal which was in excess of that required tofafford the necessarystrength was expensive in metal cost .and in the loss of heat carriedout of the furnace on each cycle as well as slowing down the cycle -toallow .time for the castings to reach furnace temperature. Moreover, thecast metal required a high carbon content to give it suicient fluidityto ow through the .passages 'in 'the mold and this high carbon contentmade the castings so brittle that when they warped, sagged or bent,.they could not be straightened and had to be discarded.

A real need has persisted for a longtime for carriers for such articlesand purposes which carrier would be light in weight, which could vbemade `from rolled metal .as contrasted with castings, which could beheat treated :to increase the initial strength before being put intouse, :and which could be made of several separate parts that -could bereadily assembled, disassembled, reversed 'and replaced. Y

The present invention aimed to solve that long-stand- .'ing problem byproviding carriers having the character- Aistics and advantages juststated. It attains that aim by Lthe invention which is disclosed in thefollowing specifi- .cation and in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a heat treating :furnace with acarrier embodying the present invention suspended therein from a heatconveyor; o

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view-of a sad- .dle and partsof the blades of the carrier of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end elevationalview of the apparatus lof Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the blade of yFiglEures 1 to 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a modied form -of a saddleembodying the present invention;

Figure 6 .is an end elevational view of the saddle of Figure 5; and

Patented `.Fully 19, 1960 Figure 7 is a perspective view of a modifiedform of a blade. Y

treating small articles.

Walls 3 and a top wall 4 having a longitudinally extendf ing opening 5therethrough. These walls 2, 3 and 4 dene a heating chamber 6 and aremade of refractory material capable of withstanding high temperatures tobe created in chamber 6 by heating means, such as r'esistance elements(not shown) which may be carried by wall supports 7. A super-structurecomprising metal uprights 10, cross bars 11 connecting the vupper endsof uprights together and support means including horizontal and verticalmembers 12 and 13 support angles 15 constituting a track `for trolleys16. 'Ihese trolleys are spaced apart several feet along the conveyor andhave wheels 17 to run on angles 15 and depending rods 20 which extenddown through opening 5 in the roof of the furnace and into chamber 6.Flexible seals 21 are secured to the top of the furnace along opening 5and normally bear against one another but are moved apart by rods 2 0,these seals impeding the flow of hot gases out of the furnace andpreventing ingress of dirt into the furnace chamber 6. A i

Figures 2 to 4 show one form of the present invention. An elongatedT-bar 25 is connected to the lower end of two rods 20 and has a web 26and flanges 27. Each `T-bar supports a plurality of saddles 30, A at barmay be used instead of the illustrated T-bar. Each saddle 30 is madefrom sheet metal and'includes a lower part consisting of parallel sidewallsY 31'and an upper part consisting of parallel side walls connectedby curved portion 31a. The lower .part of the saddle 30 is' providedwith vertical slots 32 extending upwardly from the lower edges of sidewalls 31 and intersecting with horizontal slots'33, locatedapproximately midway be'- tween the vertical end'edges of Walls 31. Atransverse ly elongatedV Stirrup 34 Vextends through openings 33 and isconnected todsides 31 of the saddle in any suitable manner, for-example,as by weld metal 35. When asaddle islassembled with T-bar 25, the web 26extends up in slots 3 2' in sides 31` and may engagebar 34, or flanges27 may engage the lower edges of saddle sides 31, lor both web andflanges may engage the saddle. Near their lower ends, the verticalremote edges of sides 31 of saddle 30 are provided 'with notches inwhich short transverse stirrups 36 are located and connected thereto inany suitable manner, for example by weld metal 37. Stirrup 34 is spacedout of vertical alignment with stirrups 36. Sides 31 of saddle 30 are'provided with aligned openings 39.

Blades 40 are made of rolled metal and have notches 41, 41a and 41bformed in the upper and lower edges thereof in which hangers connectedto articlesto be heat treated may be placed for transportation. At oneend blade 40 has an opening 43 and at the other end the blade has ablock 44 secured thereto in any suitable manner, for example by weldmetal 45.

VThe manner of assembling the saddle and blades of Figures 2 to 4 isindicated in Figure 2 where each of the portthe blades Vand their loadsof articles. The saddle is maintained in an upright position by the web26 in slots, 312H and .byfi engagement of ythe upper edge of the webwith stirrup '34;

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the T-bar 25,saddles 30, stirrups 34 and 36 and blades 4t) may all be made of rolled,high temperature resisting metals and alloys, such as high nickel highchromium ferrous alloys, and that they may be readily assembled anddisassembled. These alloys may have low carbon contents since they arenot to be cast in thin sections and hence are not as brittle as thecastings and are more susceptible to being straightened. Also they maybe heat treated so as to have their strength increased. Since the partsmay be made by rolling, they may be made with adequate strength to meetthe needs but without being unnecessarily heavy. It will further beunderstood that, in the event that any of these parts, particularly theblades 40, sag, bend or warp in use, they may be readily removed byremoving keys 46 and reversed or replaced as may be desired.

While the upper part of saddle has considerable strength against bendingunder the weight of loads on the blades due to the parallel, verticallylong sides and the curved connection at the top, added strength may behad by reinforcing the upper end of the saddle. One means of reinforcingit is by placing a rod or tube 47 of high heat resistant metal in thecurved part 31a of the saddle and attaching it to the saddle as by weldmetal 48.

It will be noted that the notches 41, `41a and 41b progressivelyincrease in depth from the inner or key-bearing ends to the outer orfree ends and that, accordingly, the blades progressively increase instrength from their free ends toward their support ends.

In the embodiment of the present invention which is shown in Figures 5,6 and 7, an elongated T-bar 25, like that shown in Figures l to 3, isemployed. One of the saddles supported on this T-bar is shown in Figures5 and 6. This saddle includes an upper part which may be a casting andwhich has short oppositely projecting flanges 52 at lits top edge whichafford strength to resist bending. At its lower edge this upper part 50is provided with an elongated laterally extending stirrup 53 and withdownwardly projecting lugs 54. The saddle includes a lower part 55 whichis connected along the lower edge of the upper part 51 in any suitablemanner as, for example, by weld metal 56. This lower part 55 ispreferably composed of two similar parts with a vertical space 57between their adjacent edges. Each part 55 is U-shaped, as better seenin Figure 5, and is provided in its top curved part with notches 60 toreceive lugs 54.

At its ends, upper part 51 is provided with upstanding portions 64 andupwardly and inwardly bent rods 65 connected thereto in any suitablemanner, for example, by weld metal 66. Recesses are provided between thelower sides of rods 65 and the upper edge of part 51 in which links aremovably retained.

In Figure 7 is shown one of the blades 75 which may be assembled withthe saddles of Figures 5 and 6. Blade has notches 76 near one end, apost 77 at the other end and Ia plurality of holes 78 between the endspreferably positioned on the longitudinal medial line or neutral axis ofthe blade to receive article hangers.

Each blade 75 may be assembled with the stirrup of Figure 5 by swingingthe lower end of a link 70 outwardly, passing the blade 75 far enoughthrough the link so that the notch 76 will receive lug 54 of the saddleand then swinging the link back into a substantially vertical positionwith co-incident lowering of the free end of the blade to bring the`blade into a substantially horizontal position. The other yblade may beassembled in the same manner.

As has been described above in connection with Figures 1 to 4, the partsof the apparatus shown in Figures 5 to 7 should be made of hightemperature heat resistant metal or alloy and the lower part 5S of thesaddle and the blades should be `made of such metal containing a lowcarbon content so that they can be formed by rolling. Preferably, theupper part 51 of the saddle is a casting since, due to its peculiarshape, it would be more economical to cast it than to roll it.

Also, as in the case of the modification of Figures l to 4, the T-bar,which s disposed in the space 57 in the saddle, prevents lateral tiltingof the saddle on the T-bar and the upper edge of the web of the T-barwhich engages the underside of stirrup 53 Iprevents tilting of thesaddle in a direction lengthwise of the T-bar.

It will be understood that the blade shown in Figure 4 may be employedwith the saddle of Figure 5 with minor structural changes, such, forexample, as providing notches near the left hand end of the blade ofFigure 4 to accommodate lugs 54 of Figure 5. Similarly, the blade ofFigure 7 may be substituted for the blade of Figure 4 in the saddles ofFigure 2, with or without omission of notches 76.

It will be understood from the foregoing disclosure that the illustratedapparatus is considerably lighter in weight than it would be if theparts were castings, as has previously been common practice, that someof, or all, the parts may be made of low carbon high temperatureresistant metal or alloy which can be rolled and which is less brittleand more susceptible to strengthening by heat treatment than castingswould be, which consists of a plurality of parts which can be readilyassembled or disas sembled and which includes blades which can bereversed in the saddle in the event that they sag in use. Further more,the saddle cooperates with the T-bar so that the saddle is maintained ina substantially vertical position at al1 times with the blades beingdisposed substantially horizontally.

An important advantage realized by the use of this invention is thatproduction is increased due to the shorter time required to bring thelight weight carrier parts up to temperature as contrasted with thelonger times required by the heavier parts.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise andexact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best modecontemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that the subjectmatter which I regard as being my invention is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it being understood thatequivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for, parts of theabove specifically described embodiment of the invention may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in whatis' claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for carrying articles through a heat treating furnacecomprising a saddle having an upper part, a lower part having parallel,spaced apart sides provided with a vertical slot and an elongatedtransverse stirrup at the upper end of said slot, blades extending intothe space between said sides, means for engaging said blades and holdingthem in substantially horizontal position. and means for supporting saidsaddle and maintaining it in substantially vertical position.

2. Apparatus for carrying articles through a heat treating furnacecomprising a saddle having an upper part, a lower part having parallel,spaced apart sides provided with a vertical slot and an elongatedtransverse stirrup extending through said saddle at the upper end ofsaid vertical slot, blades extending into the space between said sides,means for engaging said blades and holding them in substantiallyhorizontal position, and means for supporting said saddle andmaintaining it in substantially vertical position, said means includinga bar having a web disposed in said vertical slot and engageable withthe lower side of said stirrup.

3. Apparatus for carrying articles through a heat treating furnacecomprising a saddle having an upper part. a lower part having parallel,spaced apart sides provided with a vertical slot and an elongatedtransverse slot stirrup at the upper end of said slot, blades extendinginto the space between said sides, means for engaging said blades andholding them in substantially horizontal position, said means includingsaid stirrup and stirrups in the lower outer edges of said side toengage the lower sides of said blades, and means for supporting saidsaddle and maintaining it in substantially vertical position, said meansincluding a T-bar having a web disposed in said vertical slot andengageable with said elongated stir.- rup.

4. The combination of elements set forth in claim l in which keys extendthrough said sides and blades therebetween to lock the blades in thesaddle.

5. Apparatus for carrying articles through a heat treating furnacecomprising a saddle having an upper part having an elongated transversestirrup and lugs extending down from its lower edge adjacent to saidstirrup, and a lower part connected to the lower edge of said upper partand having parallel, spaced apart sides having holes to receive saidVlugs and dening a vertical slot, links depending from the upper part,blades projecting through said links and into the space between saidsides, means for holding the blades in substantially horizontal positionincluding said links and notches in the blades to receive said lugs, andmeans for supporting said saddle and maintining it in substantiallyvertical position, including a bar disposed in said vertical slot andengageable with said stirrup.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,843,275 Enk et al. July 15, 1958

